Having surpassed 4.5 million units in sales earlier this week and sitting perennially at the top end of Xbox Live’s activity charts, the Xbox 360 edition of Minecrafthas been a monumental success for developer 4J Studios since it was ported to the console this May. It’s also been keeping them busy on the update front.

In addition to October’s festive character skins like those for Half-Lifeand Halloween, October 16th’s update 1.8.2 marked a major milestone for the game by integrating PC features such as hunger and creative mode. Continuing the console edition’s push to parity with its PC counterpart, Microsoft Studios has announced today that even more big features are slated for Title Update 7 and Title Update 8.

Releasing the details through Play XBLA, Microsoft revealed that Title Update 7 will usher in many of the features found in the MinecraftPC version 1.0.1. Specifically: animal breeding, potion brewing, experience points, enchantment tables, the mushroom biome, nether fortresses, a new tutorial world, villagers, mooshrooms, blazes, snow golems, magma cubes and baby animals.

A few side notes to the list were also issued by 4J Studios on Twitter. Leveling up will only require 30 experience points as opposed to the 50 needed in the PC version; Ender Pearls can be scattered around in creative mode as a means of teleportation; and a handful of 1.0.1’s features — ocelots, jungles, iron golemns and spawn eggs — are being withheld until a later update.

But should the omitted items be destined for Title Update 8, which was also confirmed in the announcement, they’re apt to be overshadowed by its… shadowy main attraction: “The End.” A dark, desolate, murky void that plays host to Minecraft’s final boss battle against the Ender Dragon, The End will be headed to the Xbox 360 and seems perfectly tailored around Ender Pearls and the 360’s specialized crafting system (both are vital for actually beginning The End). Neither update has been branded with a release date yet, however, making it uncertain if the The End will ever arrive before, you know, the end.

The Ender Dragon: your fuchsia-eyed nemesis in “The End”

Furthermore, the unveiling of the updates occurred in near synchrony with similar news regarding the Mojang (PC) Minecraft. Version, 1.4.6 — which is available now as Snapshot 12w49a — will serve as a precursor to Minecraft’s larger January update, version 1.5, and will release sometime before Christmas. According to Mojang, the new additions will include bug fixes, enchanted books for enchanted items, and fireworks. According to the video below, the fireworks are without a doubt the coolest part.

Minecraft: Xbox 360 Editionis available now on Xbox Live Arcade for 1600 Microsoft Points. All updates, however, are free.